Highlight Reel: 2015

12.31.2015

It's time!!!

My all time favorite post of the year. I love going through seasons past and seeing all that has happened. It's a key part of the process for me as I sort through the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. While I aim to be honest, I also aim to celebrate. Photos really do that for me.

The year kicked of in a season of waiting. We counted down weeks till our baby boy would come and when he did, what a joy it was!

While we soaked him up, the weeks blurred and the paternity leave got spent and we were blessed with a pleasant visit from my mom & sister.

Mid february, Bre and mom filled our home with presents and help and cuddles. It was such a sweet time to spend with the women of my family, while taking it easy and enjoying the first weeks of Elias' life.

The weather could not make up it's mind in March, which meant suedo-warm days and snow days and in -between days. We took every chance we could to get outside when Ben got home. Elias was not a huge fan of the outdoors and so we took it easy and waited until Ben got home so my girl and I could go outside. Any attempt to leave the house was met by screams from Elias. So, while I tried to be brave, it often was so much easier to just wait a few hours more. I came to treasure the one on one time I got to have with my girl. And I learned to lean into grace.

May was a quiet month. Perhaps because we were gearing up for a lot of travel. We still had a lot of fun with church friends and with getting to know our sweet boy.

Then summer exploded calling us out on adventure. Come summertime we were out in the sun every chance we could take.

In a wild whirlwind, we swept through June. Visiting family, traveling much, going on adventures. We seized this month (and it seized us back, and then left us feeling a bit ragged.) It was so good to venture back to the states, even if that meant realizing that we actually are quite fond of our new home.

August brought on a family trip to Sweden, fun times with our Church plant, and lots of ice cream. Eowyn was super fun this month and was pretty much a ham every single day. It was honestly, a start of a really really hard season in our family. Yet, there were a lot of really shiny moments.

In October, we celebrated three decades of life for the main man squeeze of the family. Eowyn learned how to drive safari style, Elias became full-blown rascal, and we marveled at the beauty of Denmark. It was a sweet, sweet month. Truly.

November meant growing out some mustaches, working on our dino-game and inviting our sweet friends over for a Thanksgiving celebration. Then, come the day after thanksgiving, the Christmas tree was put up and Christmas cheer began.

(if a picture ever summarized their relationship, this is it.)

December hit us with sickness and we were afraid it would never leave. But alas, when it was nearly Christmas, we all stopped sniffling just in time to get our jolly on. Christmas Miracle.

We had a sweet christmas, which was extended as packages kept arriving from Family (THANKYOU!) and visits from friends made it all a cheery end. It really was a sweet end to the year.